As such, he was not going to allow himself to be sucked in Tuesday by the onslaught of questions peppered his way regarding the decision of Toronto mayor Rob Ford to wear a Franklin No. 74 orange Broncos jersey in public on Monday.

During the course of his hour-long session at the circus known as Super Bowl Media Day here at the Prudential Center in Newark, Franklin was asked 18 times about Ford. At least that’s the official count recorded by the Toronto Sun during the duration of his time in front of the mike.

Franklin was well aware the topic of Ford would be brought up from the get-go. He had barely taken his seat when one reporter held up a photo of the Toronto mayor decked out in Broncos garb for him to see.